Hopper gasket structure

ABSTRACT

A hopper gasket structure, readily applicable to a hopper door edge, comprises an elongated flexible strip of compressible material with a continuous projecting rib, and a plurality of narrow elongated spring clips of Z contour extending transversely of the strip and each has a return bend at one end, adapted to receive and tightly grip a door edge, and has an oppositely facing return bend at its other end, adapted to grip the rib and retain the strip against the door web when the door is closed.

Hennessy, Jr.

[ HOPPER GASKET STRUCTURE [75] Inventor: James J. Hennessy, Jr.,

Chambersburg, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Hennessy Products, Incorporated,

Chambersburg, Pa.

[22] Filed: Aug. 23, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 390,873

[52] US. Cl. 105/247, 24/81 B [51] Int. Cl B6ld 7/18 [58] Field of Search 105/247, 282 A; 220/46 R; 24/73 P, 81 B [56] 5 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,579,897 12/1951 Blechman 24/81 B X 2,663,061 12/1953 Zarth 24/81 B 2,739,022 3/1956 Hinz 24/81 B X Dec. 10, 1974 8/1971 Floehr 105/282 A 5/1972 Nadherny et al. 220/46 R X Primary ExaminerLloyd L. King Assistant ExaminerMichael Mar Attorney, Agent, or FirmBedell and Burgess 5 7 ABSTRACT 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENIEU DEC 1 01974 1 HOPPER GASKET STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Railroads are starting to move grain in hopper cars for loading ships at coal terminals. The cars are rotary dumped and the loading process is much faster than possible with normal gravity loading and discharge operations to and from a car.

Hopper doors normally have very poor fit and after cleaning the car thoroughly, urethane or styrene foam is pumped into the cracks around the door to seal the same to prevent leakage of grain. This operation necessitates bringing the car into the shop for this express purpose. If the hopper accumulates rainwater the foam will not let it pass out, thus making it necessary to open the hopper door and thereby destroying the foam seal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a general object of the present invention to provide a snap-on seal that can be applied effectively to a railway hopper car door to adapt the car for holding grain or powdered material, without requiring the hoppers to be serviced between successive loading because of gaps between the door edges and the hopper sides, as are likely to develop with ordinary hopper doors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view of a railway car discharge hopper door embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse section on line 2-2 of'FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of one of the seal retaining strips shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a detail section on line 4--4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a section similar to FIG. 2 but showing the door closed and compressing the gasket against a flange of the hopper frame surrounding the hopper door.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The hopper door 7 may be of sheet or cast metal and preferably is of pan-like contour with an intumed rim 8. Hinges 9 are applied to one edge of the door for mounting the door on hopper framing 10.

The flexible gasket-like strip 15 is of compressible material, preferably of tubular cross section and preferably provided with a flat rib 16 projecting from the bottom thereof. The strip is laid along the inside corners between the door body and rim and is held in place thereon by a plurality of thin metal spring clips 17 each comprising a narrow band or strip of spring material having a generally Z-shaped contour with the ends of its flanges forming return bends l8, 19.

The intumed rim 8 of the door is gripped by distorting the clip return bend 18. The gasket is held in place by the intumed end of return bend 19 which has spaced teeth 20 (FIG. 4) which dig into the compressible gasket.

The metal clips 17 are positioned at intervals about the hopper door. In the event of injury they are readily replaced wherever the car may be, without sending the car to a shop, as is required by the previous method of pumping urethane or styrene foam into the cracks around thedoor to form seals. The gasket is spaced from the overlapping faces between the door and the hopper framing, as shown in FIG. 5, hence the gasket is not subject to scraping or tearing by relative movements of the metal parts over the yielding material.

The gasket can be cut to length and furnished with clips attached; or it can be furnished in continuous lengths with clips to be applied to the gasket and door in the field at any convenient location. To allow seepage of water past the seal, while retaining grain or simi lar lading, several small gaps 22, each preferably about one-sixteenth inch wide, can be left between adjacent lengths of the seal, particularly along the lower edge of door 7.

The contour of the gasket and the shape of the attaching clips may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention and exclusive use of such modifi cations is contemplated on structures coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gasket structure applicable to a hopper door edge and comprising an elongated flexible body of compressible material of substantial thickness, with an outwardly projecting rib, and a plurality of relatively 'short narrow strips of thin metal spring material of generally Z shape contour from end to end, each of said strips having a web and a pair of oppositely directed flanges at its respective ends and having a return bend at the outer end of one of said flanges adapted to receive and tightly grip a dooredge and having an oppositely facing return bend at the outer end of its other flange receiving and tightly gripping said rib and thereby retaining the body of compressible material between the oppositely facing return bend and the Z web when distorted by the closing of the door.

2. A gasket structure as described in claim 1 in which the rib-gripping end of the spring strip has a pointed terminal engaging the body rib.

3. In a hopper structure, hopper framing, a door mounted adjacent to and movable to and from the lower edges of said framing, a substantially continuous gasket of flexible material applied directly to the framing-opposing surface of said door, and narrow elongated strips of spring material at intervals along said gasket and each comprising a yielding jaw portion at one end receiving and gripping the door edge, and a yielding jaw portion near its opposite end receiving and gripping the gasket.

4. A hopper structure as described in claim 3 in which the door has intumed rims overlapping said hopper framing and said spring clips when the door is closed, and the edges of the hopper framing abut and compress the gasket.

5. A hopper structure having a door with an intumed rim, an elongated gasket of flexible material extending alongside one face of the door body and along said rim, and a series of narrow bands of spring material disposed at intervals along the door rim and each having one end hooked to receive and grip the edge of the door rim and having a reverse bend'at the other end to form a jaw receiving the adjacent portion of the gasket and gripping the latter inwardly from the door rim. 

1. A gasket structure applicable to a hopper door edge and comprising an elongated flexible body of compressible material of substantial thickness, with an outwardly projecting rib, and a plurality of relatively short narrow strips of thin metal spring material of generally Z shape contour from end to end, each of said strips having a web and a pair of oppositely directed flanges at its respective ends and having a return bend at the outer end of one of said flanges adapted to receive and tightly grip a door edge and having an oppositely facing return bend at the outer end of its other flange receiving and tightly gripping said rib and thereby retaining the body of compressible material between the oppositely facing return bend and the Z web when distorted by the closing of the door.
 2. A gasket structure as described in claim 1 in which the rib-gripping end of the spring strip has a pointed terminal engaging the body rib.
 3. In a hopper structure, hopper framing, a door mounted adjacent to and movable to and from the lower edges of said framing, a substantially continuous gasket of flexible material applied directly to the framing-opposing surface of said door, and narrow elongated strips of spring material at intervals along said gasket and each comprising a yielding jaw portion at one end receiving and gripping the door edge, and a yielding jaw portion near its opposite end receiving and gripping the gasket.
 4. A hopper structure as described in claim 3 in which the door has inturned rims overlapping said hopper framing and said spring clips when the door is closed, and the edges of the hopper framing abut and compress the gasket.
 5. A hopper structure having a door with an inturned rim, an elongated gasket of flexible material extending alongside one face of the door body and along said rim, and a series of narrow bands of spring material disposed at intervals along the door rim and each having one end hooked to receive and grip the edge of the door rim and having a reverse bend at the other end to form a jaw receiving the adjacent portion of the gasket and gripping the latter inwardly from the door rim. 